TIP #7: Not all dark stains denote an active mold infestation.

Just because your paper is free from lignin (remember our old enemy lignin from tip #5?) doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods though. (Get it? Because paper is often made from wood?) Even on higher quality paper that has avoided fading (see tip #6) and toning (tip #5), you may have noticed some brownish reddish (maybe even fox colored) blemishes. If you haven’t seen this before, you can check out the second image above! This is what we call foxing.

The immediate cause of foxing is hotly debated. Depending on who you talk to, they might attribute the damage to mold, oxidation, or even multiple factors at once. Some people don’t even consider it to be damage at all.

What we do know is that repairing foxing is best left to a conservator. DIY efforts are more likely to damage the item further than anything else. So what can you do instead? To preserve the information, it’s recommended to digitize the item, while to prevent further damage make sure the item is stored in proper housing with buffered materials (see tip #4 for more on buffering) and at a low humidity.

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